Italian gold medal winner Thomas Ceccon was spotted napping in a Paris park after complaining about conditions in the Olympic Village.
Ceccon, 23, effectively blamed the ‘bad’ Olympic Village for his failure to qualify for the 200m backstroke final on Wednesday.
The Italy star was one of the favourites for the event after storming to gold in the 100m backstroke final, but said he was ‘too tired’ to perform after struggling to sleep in the Olympic Village.
‘There is no air conditioning in the village, it’s hot, the food is bad,’ Ceccon said after his disappointing performance in the 200m heats.
‘Many athletes move for this reason: it’s not an alibi or excuse, it’s the reality of what perhaps not everyone knows.
‘I’m disappointed that I didn’t make the final but I was too tired. It’s hard to sleep both at night and in the afternoon.
‘Usually, when I’m at home, I always sleep in the afternoon: here I really struggle between the heat and the noise.’
Ceccon appears to be taking matters into his own hands as he was spotted sleeping in a Paris park.
Saudi Arabian rower Husein Alireza posted a video on Instagram showing Ceccon napping on a white towel in the ‘Olympic Village grounds’.
Ceccon is not the only athlete to complain about the Olympic Village, with tennis star Coco Gauff revealing one of her team-mates opted to move due to the ‘cramped’ quarters.
Australian swimmer Ariarne Titmus, meanwhile, said: ‘It probably wasn’t the time I thought I was capable of, but living in the Olympic Village makes it hard to perform.
‘It’s definitely not made for high performance, so it’s about who can really keep it together in the mind.’
Former Olympic swimmer James Magnussen added: ‘There’s multiple factors that make village life far from ideal. It’s the cardboard beds, which can’t give you optimal sleep.
‘It’s the no airconditioning, which is going to play a bigger factor as the week goes. It was 20 degrees and raining yesterday. It’s going to be mid 30s in the coming days.
‘That’s going to play a factor and the Australian team having their own portable air conditioners will be a welcome relief.’
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